What Every Buyer Should Know During This Hot Dublin Ranch Housing Market.

The latest real estate data on the Dublin Ranch Housing Market (and Dublin in general) and its home prices is certainly encouraging for Dublin homeowners: Due in part to a considerable drop in the number of homes for sale since last summer (inventory is only 62% of July 2014’s) single-family home prices have appreciated significantly.

Most recently, the median closing price soared to $967,500, which is the highest figure on record for the area. What’s more surprising, however, is that the average list price during this same period was only $860,000. This means that buyers were willing to bridge the $108,000 gulf between the asking price and the closing price—something we haven’t seen in Dublin for years (especially to this extent).

It also means that, despite talk of diminished buyer competition across all nine Bay Area counties, Dublin Ranch’s real estate market remains fiercely competitive. After all, only bidding wars typically drive the price that far beyond the asking price. Reinforcing this belief is the fact that a mere 5 listings expired in July; any division between buyers and sellers clearly isn’t obstructing the sale of homes.

But buyers are still an important part of this process—even if the industry has recently focused on sellers. Here are a few things they can do to increase the odds of writing a successful offer in the Bay Area:

For conventional loans, it can be a good idea to have your loan officer perform a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac underwriting and include the results in your approval letter. This gives the loan a greater appearance of being fully approved and will make it stand out against the pre-approval letters from other buyers.

You should also have a conversation with your loan officer to see if you can shorten your loan and appraisal contingencies. Shorter waits are attractive to sellers, who frequently prefer the offer that takes less time to close—even if it’s for slightly less money.

There’s the story about a house that was recently sold in San Diego; the offers came down to an investor wanting to tear down the property and a young couple who had fallen in love with the home. The couple wrote a letter to the owners talking about who they were and how they hoped to cherish the home like the sellers had. In the end, the letter convinced the sellers to take the couple’s offer over the investor’s despite the fact that the investor provided a better all-cash offer.

Unsurprisingly, many owners have an emotional attachment to the home they’re selling. That’s why writing a “dear seller” letter can help you connect with them on a personal level and give them more to consider (than simply dollars and cents) when it comes to making an acceptance.

In the future, we’ll be including more market-tailored tips for Bay Area buyers and sellers so you can be confident that you’re making an informed decision when it comes to buying or selling a home. And when that time comes, one of the best decisions will be choosing Lifestyle Real Estate Services to help you through the process. We’re experts at marketing homes and we take pride in making the process as stress-free as possible for both parties—because everybody deserves a happy home.